Persona 4 Bonds of the heart
by GameCguru
Summary: "I am Thou... Thou art I. Thy heart's bonds shall lead thee further to the truth." What happens when The story of Persona 4 is told with Kingdom Hearts characters. Full summary inside.
1. prologue

**WARNING: PLEASE READ THE AUTHOR'S NOTES BELOW BEFORE READING.**

**A/N: Hello ladies and gentleman and welcome to my new project "Persona 4 bonds of the heart". Now before we get into the story let me just explain the general premise, how I got the idea for this fic, and some of the details regarding how I'm writing and how I'm uploading this story so you aren't confused by anything. (I promise this will be the only authors notes that's ever this long so just bare with me this one time.)**

**So one day I was browsing through Deviantart when I came across a crossover picture between Kingdom Hearts and Persona 4 by Summondagger88, the actual picture was a picture of the all-out attack from Persona 4 but with Yu, Yosuke, Yukiko, and Naoto replaced with various kingdom hearts characters. **

**I thought it was neat but I didn't really think of anything of it at first, then I went through her gallery and saw that she had done character swap pictures for Chie and Rise as well, so at this point I was thinking of what other characters from Persona 4 could I replace with kingdom hearts characters which eventually lead me to ask, as a fanfic writer, could I rewrite the Persona 4 story but replacing the cast with Kingdom hearts characters and still have it feel natural. After a little thinking I realized I COULD. As long as I took care to keep the core themes and feel of Persona 4 in mind as I wrote and wrote at my best, I could conceivably rewrite the story of Persona 4 while still keeping the Kingdom hearts cast believable. And since I didn't see anyone else trying something like this I decided to take a stab at it.**

**Now for the details of how that will work. First off this will NOT be a multi-verse style fan fic. What that means is that the Kingdom Hearts cast will not be aware of their original game's universe. **

**Second, when I say I'm replacing the entire cast of Persona 4 I mean the ENTIRE cast from main characters to supporting characters, and I'm going the whole nine yards and even replacing the Social link characters as well. The only characters I'm not replacing are Igor, Margaret, and Hanako. Hanako because there was no proper stand-in from Kingdom Hearts to replace her with and because she is such a minor character even in terms of other minor characters that there was no point in changing her anyway. The reason why I'm not changing Igor or Margaret is because there is something special I want to do in terms of Margaret's social link and you just can't have Margaret without Igor or vice-versa.**

**Third, the dialogue will not be a one-to-one translation from Persona 4 meaning while the EVENTS of the story will be the same how the characters deal with those events and what they say during them will not be exactly the same, though they may be similar in spots, otherwise there is literally no point in a story like this if I'm just going to repeat the script of Persona 4 but replacing "Souji said" with "Sora said".**

**And finally let me explain how I'll be uploading this story. Let me just say upfront that I upload VERY slowly, due to both how naturally lazy I can be at times and also just how tricky a story like this is to write. I would love to update this story more regularly but I know the second I try to do that is the same second I start making really big mistakes that I could have avoided had I taken my time. So to avoid those big mistakes both for my own sanity and for your enjoyment of the story I will be uploading rather sluggishly. To compensate for the slow updates these chapters will be LONG, aside from the prologue each chapter will be easily 8,000 to 12,000 words a pop, so while you're getting chapters less frequently you're getting more content per chapter which I think balances out rather nicely. **

**So that is everything I wanted to say before we begin. So without further ado here is the prologue to Persona 4 Bonds of the heart.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Persona 4 or Kingdom Hearts**

Contract

A limo slowly drifted through a thick cloud of fog, its spinning wheels reflecting an ominous landscape.

Inside this limo sat two figures. One, a beautiful woman with radiant blonde hair that reached the bottom of her neck, the woman wore a dark blue outfit that complimented her beautiful figure, in her lap was a large book that had a bizarre symbol on it.

The other figure was a short and stout man in a black suit with a small white hankerchief visible from his coat pocket. However the most striking feature about this man was his nose that protruded far past the rest of his face. The man's hands rested on a simple black cane.

The man slowly opened his eyes to look at the person across from him who only he could see.

"Welcome to the Velvet room."

"Ah… it seems we have a guest with an intriguing destiny…" The man noted with a chuckle.

"My name is Igor… I am delighted to make your acquaintance." The man, Igor, offered with a small nod of his head.

"This places exists between dream and reality, mind and matter..." Igor explained noting the confusion on his "guest's" face.

"It is a room that only those bound by a contract may enter… It may be that such a destiny may await you in the near future."

"Well then why don't you introduce yourself." Igor offered.

The guest thought for a second before answering. "Sora Seta."

Igor looked thoughtful for a moment before continuing. "Hm… I see. Sora Seta."

"Now, let's take a look into your future shall we?" Igor proclaimed before summoning a deck of tarot cards on the table in front of him.

"Do you believe in fortune telling?" Igor asked.

"Each reading is done with the same cards, yet the result is always different…" Igor explained before gliding his hand over the table causing six cards from the deck to form a hexagon around the deck.

"Life itself follows the same principles, doesn't it?"

With a turn of his wrist Igor flipped one of the cards over to reveal what appeared to be a tower being struck by a lightning bolt.

"Hm… the tower in the upright position represents the immediate future. It seems a terrible catastrophe is imminent." Even while saying this Igor kept an eerily calm expression on his face.

"The card indicating the future beyond that is…" As he flipped over another card, this time with an image of a crescent moon. "…the moon, in the upright position."

"This card represents "hesitation" and "mystery"… very interesting indeed."

"It seems you will encounter a misfortune at your destination and a great mystery will be imposed upon you." Igor said with a slight air of excitement on his breath.

"In the coming days, you will enter a contract of some sort, after which you will return here."

"The coming year is a turning point in your destiny… If the mystery goes unsolved, your future may be forever lost." Igor explained grimly.

"My duty is to provide assistance to our guests to ensure that does not happen." Igor said with resolve in his voice.

"Ah! I have neglected to introduce my assistant to you." Igor said pointing a hand to the woman beside him.

"This is Margaret. She is a resident of this place, like myself." Igor explained.

The woman, Margaret bowed lightly much as her master did before speaking. "My name is Margaret. I am here to accompany you through your journey."

Igor nodded his head slightly before continuing. "We shall attend to the details another time."

"Until then farewell." Igor said as the guest's vision became flooded by a swirl of light.

**A/N: And that is the prologue to Persona 4 Bonds of the heart.**

**Keep in mind that the story won't really pick up until the next chapter so hold your first thoughts until I get that uploaded which should be sometime over the following week, since I was originally going to have the prologue be a part of chapter one but I figured the story would flow a little better if I split them up. **

**Anyways Thank you everyone who took the time to give this a try and I will see everyone sometime next week with the first real chapter "Arrival in Inaba".**

**See ya.**

**GameCguru**

**P.S. If you want to see the original picture that inspired this story and a not badly cropped view of it go over to my profile for a link to Summondagger88's Deviantart page, she does lots of really great fanarts for Kindgom hearts, Persona, and many other franchises. If you're interested check her out.**


	2. Arrival in Inaba

**A/N: Hello ladies and gentleman and welcome to the first real chapter of Persona 4 bonds of the heart.**

**Now let me just clarify one thing that I didn't have space for last time. This fic will be adapting the original PS2 game not Golden. So there will be no Marie stand-in and most, if not all, of the added scenes from Golden will be excluded.**

**Anyway that's all I wanted to say, so sit back and enjoy the first chapter of Persona 4 bonds of the heart.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Persona 4 or Kingdom Hearts.**

Arrival in Inaba

**Monday April 11****th**** 2011 (Daytime)**

A young man with spiky brown hair slowly opened his eyes to the sound of birds chirping as his mind began recalling the strange dream he just witnessed.

"What a weird dream." The boy muttered to himself as he got up from his bed to begin his morning routine.

_My name is Sora Seta. Today I'm going to be moving from the big city to a small rural town called Inaba while my parents are working overseas for the following year._

Sora quickly made and ate breakfast before leaving his house to make his way to the train station dressed in the standard uniform of his new school, Yasogami high school, which amounted to a simple black jacket and pants over a plain white shirt, a stylized roman numeral II on his collar as a sign of his grade.

_While I'm there I'll be staying with my best friend Riku Dojima. Me and him have been best friends for as long as I can remember even though he's six years older than I am. Once he graduated High school he quickly settled down in Inaba to try and make it on his own while working his way up through the ranks of the Inaba Police department._

Sora watched with detached acknowledgement as the train came up to the platform and let off its passengers before making his way onto the train.

_Last I heard he had been promoted to detective. Typical Riku, excelling at anything he tried and making it look easy while he did it._

Sora watched with mild curiosity as the city gave way to the rolling green fields of the country as the train sped to its destination, Yasoinaba station.

_This isn't the first time I had to move because of my parents work though. While I don't hate my parents, how could I, I do wish they could settle down for a little while. Just long enough for me to make some real friends. I've never been a loner but I always felt disconnected from the other kids for some reason, besides Riku, so I never had more than a large group of acquantiances._

Sora checked his phone to see a message from Riku that read "We'll meet you at the platform." Sora was slightly confused at the "we'll" part but decided to shrug it off as the man over the intercom announced that they were coming up on Yasoinaba station.

_Maybe this year I can finally change that._

Sora made his way out of the station as he silently took in the sleepiness of the town. But before he could focus on anything in particular he heard a voice call out to him.

"Sora, over here."

Sora turned to see a young man with silver hair that reached slightly passed his neck. The young man was dressed in a white button up shirt with a pair of work-pants complimented by a simple blue tie. The young man was decidedly handsome with pair of bright blue eyes complimenting his face.

Upon seeing the young man Sora immediately perked up as he quickly made his way over to the young man waving to him.

"Riku, how have you been?" Sora asked excitedly as he and Riku shared a high-five.

"I've been doing fine, you seem as lively as ever." Riku noted with a smirk.

Sora rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly at the comment. Out of the corner of his eyes Sora saw a blob of light blue and brown hair from behind Riku's leg. Turning his head Sora saw a little girl of no more than eight quickly hide behind Riku's leg when she saw him glance at her.

Riku noticed his line of sight and quickly understood Sora's confusion. "Oh yeah I forgot to introduce you to someone. Sora meet Yuna, my daughter." Riku said as he gently pushed Yuna forward.

"Go on say hello." Riku coaxed gently.

"H-Hello" Yuna greeted nervously.

Now that she wasn't hiding behind Riku Sora could see that she was wearing a light blue sweater which had a dark streak of blue run across the middle, she also wore a dark blue skirt that complimented her sweater nicely. Her short brown hair was combed straight framing a pair of beautiful emerald eyes.

"Hello" Sora greeted back.

Riku gave a slight chuckle at the exchange. "What are you shy for?" he teased lightly.

Yuna gave a pout at the teasing. "Shut it Riku!" as she gave a hard slap to his leg.

"Hey easy." Riku chuckled.

"Anyway shall we go?" Riku asked pointing to his car parked a little ways away.

"Sure." Sora answered as they made their way over to the car.

XXXX

The trio were silent as they drove through the streets of Inaba, Sora watching as the shops passed by. Riku, noticing the uncomfortable silence, decided to strike up a conversation.

"So how long are you going to be staying again?" he asked.

"Until next spring." Sora answered.

"Heh, parents still a pair of busy-bodies." Riku teased.

"Tell me about it. Do they HAVE to go overseas every time something comes up? They can't just use a video chat or something? We have the technology to do that, ya know." Sora ranted.

"I think it's a bit more complex than that." Riku said with a chuckle.

"Yeah I know. But it's still frustrating." Sora said with a sigh as the car came to a red light.

Riku frowned at that, fully aware of Sora's frustrations with his parents. Riku was brought out of his thoughts when he heard the beeping of the gas light go off.

"Great." Riku sighed sarcastically.

"Hold on guys we gotta make a pit-stop first."

"That's fine." Sora reassured him as they pulled into a nearby gas station.

The three got out of the car as the attendant came up to Riku.

"How may I help you today, sir?" The attendant asked enthusiastically.

"One tank please." Riku answered.

The attendant nodded in response. "Right away sir." He said as he went to work filling the tank.

Riku turned to Yuna who had begun to fidget a little. "Yuna can you go to the bathroom on your own?"

"Huh, oh yeah. I'll be fine." She answered quickly as she made her way to the back of the building.

The attendant called out to her from his position near the pumps. "The bathrooms are down towards the back on the left."

"Okay, thank you." She said back.

Once Yuna was out of sight Sora came up to Riku with a serious expression on his face. "Hey Riku, can I ask you something?"

"Sure what is it?"

Sora mulled over his words before asking. "Is Yuna really your daughter? I mean she can't be much younger than eight years old."

Riku looked away for a moment at the question before answering. "You're right, She's not my biological daughter. Circumstances ended with me adopting her so for all legal purposes she is my daughter."

"Oh, I see." Sora said somberly as the implications set in.

"Can I ask what happened?" Sora asked.

Riku shook his head at the question. "I'll tell you some other time. Besides there's no point in making things gloomy on your first day in town." Riku asked with a small smile on his face.

"Anyway I'm going to take a little walk down the block to loosen my muscles up." Riku said back as he made his way down the road.

As Riku walked away Sora gave a long stretch to loosen his muscles after the long train ride to Inaba.

"Does it surprise a city boy to see how little there is out here?" Sora turned his head to see the attendant attempting to converse with him as he waited for the tank to fill.

"I wasn't expecting much to be honest." Sora said with a sigh.

"Yeah, that's what a lot of city boys say when they first see the town." The attendant said sheepishly.

"If you aren't at school you'll probably be hanging out with friends or doing part-time jobs."

The attendant gave a quick snap of his fingers as a thought crossed his mind. "Actually, we're looking for some part-time help right now." He said as he extended his hand out for a handshake.

"I know you just got here but give it some thought."

"Sure." Sora said with a friendly smile as he shook the attendant's hand.

After ending the handshake the attendant made his way to the gas pump to check on the tank leaving Sora alone. A sudden wave of nausea and vertigo hit Sora just as the attendant turned the corner around the car, the feeling almost dropping Sora to his knees.

"Are you okay, Mr. Sora?" Sora looked up to see Yuna looking at him with a concerned look on her face.

The feeling of nausea finally leaving his system Sora quickly straightened up to avoid worrying his best friend's daughter. "Yeah I'm fine, it must just be delayed motion sickness from the train."

Yuna looked unsure but decided to drop the subject for the time being as she made her way back into the car just as Riku returned from his walk.

After paying the attendant the appropriate amount of money they continued on their way to Riku's house.

XXXX

**(Evening)**

Sora found himself in the living room of Riku's house as evening rolled around. The house itself was a modest two-story house with a living room and kitchen combo making up the bottom floor with the bedrooms making up the top floor.

Yuna sat across the small table from him as she sat in seiza while Sora himself sat with his legs crossed on the floor. Riku was sitting on the couch in the back of the room as the three of them silently watched the evening news.

"…And now for our top story this evening. Former University of Tokyo professor Ansem the Wise has been at the center of a scandal involving one of his own students, miss Tifa Lockhart, who was an up and coming pianist until recently. According to reports the two had been seen together at some point of everyday by various sources and some people are suggesting that there may be signs of lewd conduct. Ansem himself has made a comment stating that there was no relationship between him and Miss Lockhart and that he had been helping her study for an upcoming exam. The matter is currently being looked into by the board of directors of the university." The anchorman said as he explained the story. Complimenting the recap of the story were two pictures of a man and a woman, the man looked to be in his mid to late thirties with a head of blonde hair complimented by a blonde beard framing a pair of blue eyes, the woman was a beautiful with long black hair framing a pair of hazel eyes.

"What do you think of this situation?" The man asked a fellow anchorman.

"Well I think it's pretty obvious that Ansem was looking for a pretty piece of ass. I mean have you seen that miss Lockhart, an absolute beauty. If he wasn't in bed with her given all the time he spent with her, I'll eat my shoe." The other anchorman said snobbishly.

Riku just gave a disgusted chuckle as he watched the broadcast. "The only thing obvious here is that you're a pack of morons jumping to conclusions."

"Is it really that hard to believe that Ansem was just helping that miss Lockhart lady study for an exam?" Sora asked confused at the anchorman's comments.

Riku just got a sad look on his face at the question. "It's hard for some people to give others the benefit of the doubt, especially when they've already come to a conclusion in their head, even if their wrong about it."

"I feel bad for them." Yuna said meekly as she watched the anchormen continue to rip into Ansem the Wise.

"I wouldn't worry too much about it. With some luck this whole thing will blow over in a week or so." Riku said reassuringly.

"That's good." Yuna said with a reassured smile.

"Alright who's ready for dinner?" Riku as he got up from the couch.

"I am!" Sora and Yuna said excitedly.

"Okay, okay just give me a minute." Riku said with a chuckle as he made his way over to the kitchen.

Five minutes later the three were all seated around the table, various dinner items lay sprawled around the table as they had their hands pressed together in prayer.

"Itadakimatsu."

*ring* *ring*

Riku's eye twitched as his phone's ringtone continued to ring before answering it with a huff.

"Hello."

"Yes, this is detective Dojima."

"What?"

"Can it wait until morning?"

"Damn it, alright I'll be there in a few minutes." Riku finished the conversation as he put his phone.

"Are you going somewhere?" Yuna asked with a sad look on her face.

"Sorry Yuna, but something big came up down at the station and it can't wait until tomorrow." Riku explained with a gentle tone.

Yuna looked down at her food with a sad look on her face.

Not knowing what to say Riku just turned to Sora with an apologetic look on his face. "Sorry this had to happen on your first day here."

"Don't worry about it." Sora said with a shake of his head.

"Alright I'm off. I'll probably be back late so I'll lock up the house on the way out." Riku said as he made his way out the door.

"Hey Yuna, it's raining did the laundry get taken in?" The detective called from the doorway.

"Yeah, I brought it in earlier." Yuna called back.

"Okay I'm off." And with a click the door was closed and locked.

The atmosphere took an uncomfortable air as Sora and Yuna ate dinner silently.

Before Sora could strike up a conversation the show that had been playing changed to a commercial of what looked like a large mall.

"At Junes, everyday is customer appreciation day. Come see for yourself, and get in touch with our products."

"_Everyday's great at your Junes." _A light-hearted jingle followed the commercial.

"Everyday's great at your Junes." Yuna repeated with a chuckle before blushing once she realized that Sora was watching her with an amused look.

Sora gave a light chuckle at her singing. "Do you like singing Yuna-chan?"

"Uh-huh. Though I'm not very good." She said with a shy smile.

"Really? I thought you sounded great." Sora reassured her.

"Huh?! Really?" Yuna asked incredulous.

"Yeah, really."

Yuna, not knowing what to say, just gave a nervous but heartfelt chuckle.

The evening was much more relaxed after that as the two continued to make small talk.

XXXX

Sora gave a tired yawn as he finished putting the finishing touches on his new room.

The room itself was a modest size with a roll out futon in the corner and a desk with various things on it in another corner. A bookshelf was up against wall that held the door. Pushed up beneath the window was a couch opposite a small television sitting on a small stand.

"Finally done." Sora said with a sigh as he sat back on his couch.

"Not perfect, but I'm content." He said to himself as he looked over his room.

"Tomorrow's the first day of school. I wonder if I'll be able to make any friends there." Sora wondered as he tilted his head back in thought.

"Ah well, I guess I'll find out tomorrow." He said as he got to his feet.

Out of the corner of his eyes Sora noticed a blob of grey around the edges of his curtains. Pulling them aside revealed the thick cloud of fog that had fallen over Inaba.

"Foggy tonight." Sora mumbled to himself.

Glancing at the clock Sora saw that it was currently midnight. With a tired stretch he got out his futon and quietly went to sleep.

XXXX

Sora slowly opened his eyes with a groan as he got to his feet. Looking around all Sora could see was thick fog that obscured everything around him.

Before Sora could think about where he was a deep, yet strangely feminine, voice suddenly began speaking.

"_Do you seek the truth?"_

"Who's there? And what do you mean?" Sora demanded as he tried to locate the source of the voice.

"_If you seek answers, you must take the first step towards the truth." _With those words the fog in front of Sora lifted enough for him to see a path of red tiles stretching out into the distance.

With no other options Sora cautiously began making his way down the path.

After walking for several minutes the path abruptly ended, the fog still obscuring everything around Sora.

"Great, now what?"

As Sora began looking around the landscape again he noticed an outline of a figure floating above him, however the fog was too thick to make out any specific details about the figure.

Before Sora could say anything the figure began speaking.

"_A symbol of despair, a symbol of emptiness, and a symbol of hope. I wonder which one will be chosen." _The figure said cryptically.

"What?"

Before he could receive an answer shadowy creatures began appearing from the fog. The creatures were black, lanky, and devoid of features save for two golden eyes that seemed to burrow into Sora's mind. His every instinct told him to run from these creatures.

Once there were several dozen of the shadowy creatures the figure pointed a transparent finger at Sora causing the creatures to rush towards him.

Fear overcoming reason Sora turned and ran into the fog, the creatures hot on his heels.

"_I know I can't outrun them, I have to think of something and fast." _As Sora was thinking of a plan to evade the shadow creatures a glint of light coming from the fog caught his attention.

With no other option in sight Sora fell into a full-on sprint as the glint of light died down to reveal its source, a large Katana.

"_Perfect." _With that thought Sora dived for the katana with one final burst of speed. With a roll Sora took a hold of the sword before springing to his feet and turning to face the shadowy creatures.

He held the katana like a broad sword, gripping the hilt with both hands in a low-stance.

Sora gave a large jump as the first creature lunged for his legs, with a twist of his body Sora slammed the blade of the Katana down onto the shadow causing it to burst into a black cloud of smoke.

With a spin Sora cut across another shadow that attempted to blind-side him, reducing it to black smoke.

Before he could ready himself for another attack a third shadow struck Sora across his back causing him to fall to the ground, the katana clattering to the ground a few feet away.

The remaining shadows, seeing their chance, began dog-piling on top of Sora. Struggling against the shadows hold on him Sora could do nothing but reach out his hand for something, anything, that might save him.

Just as Sora began to think it was pointless a mysterious figure appeared before him. The figure was decidedly male with a slightly muscled physique hidden under a suit of armor that glowed a bright gold. Atop its helmet lay a small tilted crown. However the most striking thing about the figure was its weapon, which resembled a large key but was held like a sword. The figure stared down at Sora with a pair of gold eyes with black slits hidden behind its helmet, but instead of being frightened by the golden eyes of the mysterious figure like he had been with the shadows he was instead calmed by them.

The figure held out its hand towards Sora in a calm gesture. Before Sora could make sense of the gesture he heard the figure speak.

"_**Awaken, Awaken to your power."**_

As the figure finished speaking the area was engulfed in a bright light as Sora felt his consciousness slip.

XXXX

**Tuesday April 12 2012 (Morning)**

Sora groggily opened his eyes to see sunlight pouring through his curtains. Sitting up with a groan his mind recalled the bizarre dream he had.

"My… power?" Sora wondered as he recalled the figure's words.

With a sigh Sora began scratching his head in irritation. "I gotta lay off the manga."

Just then Sora heard the door to his room open. Turning to see who it was Sora was greeted by the sight of Yuna peering shyly around the corner of the door.

"Um, Mr. Sora I just came to tell you that breakfast is ready."

"Okay I'll be down in a minute." Sora replied.

With that Yuna quietly closed the door and made her way downstairs towards the kitchen.

As the door clicked shut Sora got to his feet with a long stretch. Looking out his window Sora noticed that the fog from last night was gone, replaced by the pleasant glow of the morning sun.

The apprehensive knot formed in his stomach again as he looked out at the small town.

XXXX

A few minutes later Sora came down the stairs dressed in his school uniform, his jacket left unbuttoned revealing the white shirt underneath.

Looking over towards the counter Sora noticed Yuna quietly eating her breakfast, which seemed to consist of eggs and bacon. Next to her on the counter was a second plate of eggs and bacon which Sora could only guess was supposed to be for him.

"Good morning Yuna-chan." Sora greeted as he took a seat at the counter and began eating his breakfast.

"Good morning Mr. Sora." Yuna greeted back cheerfully.

"Did Riku leave for work already?" Sora asked noting the lack of a silver-haired detective.

"Yeah." Yuna answered sadly as she picked at her food.

"I see."

"But he did tell me to tell you something." Yuna began.

"He said "good luck at school today." She finished with a smile.

Sora looked surprised for a second before getting a big grin at the encouragement.

"Thanks Yuna." Sora replied causing her to start blushing.

"Y-you're welcome." She sputtered shyly.

After that the two quietly ate their breakfast before making their way to school.

XXXX

Sora found himself walking down a residential street, having parted ways with Yuna at the grade school bus stop.

All around Sora were several students dressed in the Yasogami uniform, some were mingling with friends, while others were rushing to get to school early.

Before Sora could dwell on his classmates he heard a loud voice echo through the street.

"LOOK OUT!"

Turning around Sora saw a student in a Yasogami high uniform racing down the sloped street on a skateboard. The youth had spiky blond hair framing a pair of sky blue eyes, not dissimilar to Sora's. Around his neck were a pair of wireless headphones.

Reacting quickly Sora moved to the side of the street as the youth zoomed past him. In an attempt to slow his speed the student tried to turn in an S-formation but only succeeded in swerving out of control as he fell off his skateboard into a pair of garbage cans on the side of the street.

Sora averted his eyes with a grimace as the young man crashed into the garbage cans. Stepping forward with a worried look Sora looked to see if the young man was okay.

"Are you okay?" Sora asked as the blond rubbed his head in pain.

"Yeah, I'm fine." The young man said with a groan as he got to his feet. "Thanks for asking though." He added as he turned to face Sora.

"I'm Roxas Hanamura, nice to meet'cha." The blond said as he brushed off bits of garbage off his clothes before picking up his skateboard.

"Sora Seta." Sora replied as he and Roxas began walking towards the school again.

"I don't think I've seen you around before, are you new here?" Roxas asked curiously.

"Yeah, I just moved here yesterday." Sora answered.

"Ah, a transfer student, where'd you move from?"

"Okina city." Sora replied.

"What do ya know another city kid." Roxas said with a cheery smile.

"Another?" Sora asked confused.

"Yep I'm from the city too." Roxas said with a proud smile on his face.

"Huh, small world." Sora said incredulous. "So is this town as boring as it seems?"

Roxas chuckled at the question before replying. "Well there are worse places you could be, but yeah there isn't much to do out here."

"Oh joy." Sora said with a comedic sigh.

"Heh heh well there is one thing that this town has over the city." Roxas said mysteriously.

"What's that?" Sora asked.

"We can actually breathe out here." Roxas said with a laugh.

The laugh was contagious as Sora found himself laughing at the lame joke as the two walked in through the gates of Yasogami Highschool.

XXXX

The students of class 2-2 were busily chatting amongst each other as they waited for their homeroom teacher to arrive.

The room was a modest size with various cubbies up against the back wall, six rows of desks with three chairs per row lined the room facing the chalkboard, two rows near the windows, another two in the center of the room, and the last two rows up against the side wall that had two doors at both ends.

All around the classroom various bits of Gossip were thrown about.

"Hey did you hear we're getting a transfer student today!" A female voice said.

"Really? I wonder if it's a boy or a girl?" A young man said in response.

"I heard from a friend of mine that she saw a boy come off the train from Okina city wearing a Yasogami high uniform, do you think it could have been him?" A second female voice asked.

"Oooo I can't wait." A third girl said excitedly.

In the center row of desks sat two girls, one sitting in the front seat of the row and the other girl sitting behind her, who having overheard the gossiping students began talking about the mysterious transfer student they just heard about.

The girl in the front seat was decidedly beautiful with a slim petite figure wearing a red button-up sweater, along with the standard skirt of the female Yasogami uniform and a pair of opaque pantyhose. Falling down her back was a long mane of beautiful blond hair framing a pair of brilliant blue eyes. Completing her outfit was a small red hairband on top of her head.

The other girl was pretty in her own right with a slim but slightly muscled physique wearing a green jacket with a yellow stripe going down the center separated by the zipper and three little buttons near the upper-left part of her chest, along with the standard Yasogami skirt. A pair of sky-blue eyes were framed by short black hair giving the second girl a bit of a tomboyish look.

"Do you hear that Namine, we're getting a transfer student." The girl with black-hair said to the blonde-haired girl excitedly.

The blonde-haired girl, Namine, nodded her head in agreement. "I wonder what their like?"

"Hmmm." The black-haired girl mumbled as she mulled the question over in her head.

Before she could think more about the transfer student she heard the scuffle of a chair behind her. Turning towards the noise she saw Roxas take a seat in the desk behind her.

"Morning, Roxas." She greeted.

"Morning, Xion, Namine." Roxas greeted back.

"So did you hear? We're getting a new transfer student today." Xion excitedly repeated the gossip she had heard.

"Really? What a coincidence, I was just talking with a transfer student on the way to school today." Roxas said.

"Really?!" Xion replied incredulous.

"How did that happen?"

"Well… I had a bit of an accident this morning and…" Roxas didn't get any farther before Xion started chuckling.

"An accident? Let me guess you took a bit of a dumpster dive." Xion said in between chuckles knowing Roxas' tendency to crash on his skateboard.

Roxas got flustered by the all-too true accusation. "T-that's beside the point."

"Anyway, I got into a little accident and he stopped to see if I was okay." Roxas explained as the last of Xion's chuckles died down.

"So? What's he like?" Namine asked curiously.

"I only talked with him for a few minutes, but he seems like a nice enough guy." Roxas explained with a small smile on his face.

"Anything else about him?" Xion asked.

"Hmm… Well… How should I put this?" Roxas mumbled to himself.

But before he could say anything the door on the opposite side of the room opened as two people walked into the room, Sora and someone else causing the rest of the students to take their seats.

The figure was tall and muscular man who appeared to be in his mid-thirties. The man wore what amounted to a business suit but with the front left open much like how Sora wore his school uniform only more disheveled. The man had a rigid square chin to compliment his grizzled appearance. The man also had short blonde hair that had been gelled back framing a pair of blue eyes along with a pair of aviator goggles atop his head.

Sora stood next to the grizzled figure with his bag slung over his shoulder. Everyone's eyes, save for Roxas, went wide-eyed at the spiky hair of the new transfer student.

"Is he for real?" One student whispered.

"His hair is spikier than Roxas'." Another student whispered incredulously.

Sora just got a sheepish look on his face as he heard the whispers continue.

"Alright that's enough, settle down now." The man shouted.

"First let me get the formalities out of the way. My name is Cid Highwind and as of today I will be your new Homeroom teacher for the next year." The man said causing the whispers to start again.

"HE'S our new homeroom teacher?"

"He looks more like a fighter pilot than a teacher."

"What kind of name is Highwind anyway?"

Sora could practically see the pulsing vein appear on Cid's forehead as the whispers continued.

"SHUT UP YOU MORONS!" Cid screamed instantly silencing the whispers.

"Yes I am your new homeroom teacher! And for your information Highwind is a great name!" Cid said causing the room to collectively sweatdrop.

Cid quietly cleared his throat with a cough before continuing. "Anyway before we continue let me introduce you to the new transfer student."

"Go ahead and introduce yourself kiddo." Cid urged.

"Uh… Hello, my name is Sora Seta, it's a pleasure to meet everyone." Sora greeted nervously.

"As of today he is your new classmate…" Cid paused for a second to give his best glare to the rest of the class. "I expect you to treat him as such." The rest of the class quickly nodded in confirmation.

"From this moment forward you are all officially second years, I expect all of you to work your butts off this year. You are to set an example for all of the first years that will follow in your footsteps, much like what me and my class had to do when I was in school." Cid advised.

"Hell when I was in school we didn't have all these programs and resources you kids nowadays have, when we were told to do something we had to do it on our own and furthermore…" Cid trailed off as he went off on a tangent.

Before he could rant for very long Xion raised her hand to get his attention. "Excuse me Mr. Highwind, but can Sora sit here?" She asked gesturing to the empty seat next to her.

"Hm, oh sure. Go take a seat Seta."

Sora quietly obeyed as he made his way over to the desk next to Xion. As he took his seat he heard Xion whispering to him.

"I figured you didn't want to stand in front of class all day." She whispered as Sora turned to his head to face her.

"Heh, that's true." Sora whispered with a chuckle.

"My name is Xion Satonaka by the way." Xion greeted with a whisper as she held out her hand.

"It's nice to meet you Xion." Sora greeted back as he shook her hand in a friendly handshake.

"Hey Seta, Satonaka!" the two jumped in their seat as they turned to see Cid glaring at them from the front of the class. "Save the chit-chat for after class, now pay attention."

"Yessir." The two replied hurriedly.

"Now as I was saying…" Cid trailed off as the class continued into the afternoon.

XXXX

**(After school)**

"…And that is why expect all of you to work your butts off this year…" Cid's rant was finally starting to draw to a close as the school day was coming to an end. Many kids had begun to doze off during the lecture while others were doing their best to pay attention.

Just as Cid was wrapping up his lecture the final bell rang signaling the end of the school day.

"Kuh over already? Ah well, Alright that's it for today normal lectures start tomorrow." Cid said as he moved towards the door.

Just then the intercom came to life as a female voice began speaking.

"Attention all teachers, please report to the faculty office for a brief staff meeting. All students are to return to their classes and are not to leave the school until further notice."

Cid rubbed his head in exasperation "What could be going on the first day of school?" He whispered to himself before turning to the class. "Alright you heard the announcement, sit tight and wait for further notice. If I catch anyone trying to slip out their gonna get hit with a week's worth of detention, got it?" He threw back before making his way out of the room.

Once he was out of earshot the gossip picked up again as students began talking amongst each other.

"Man I can't believe a guy like that is our new homeroom teacher." A girl muttered to her friend.

"Well it could be worse I guess, we could have gotten a bow-legged hunchback with buck-teeth for a homeroom teacher." The girl's friend said with a chuckle.

"Heh that's true."

Just then Police sirens could be heard coming from outside. Several students rushed up to the window to try and catch a glimpse of any police cars but couldn't because of the thick cloak of fog that had fallen over the town.

"Did something happen? Those sirens sound pretty close." Said one boy.

"Beats me I can't see anything through this damn fog." Another boy said shrugging.

"Well what are you gonna do? Fog like this always shows up after it rains." Said the first boy.

"Oh hey did you two hear? The paparazzi is looking all over for that Tifa Lockhart lady." A third gossiped.

"Oh yeah I heard about that. Apparently she's been seen around the shopping district in Inaba." The second boy replied.

"Actually I heard that…" The third trailed off as he whispered the rumor in his friend's ear.

The second boy's eyes widened as he listened to the gossip. "Are you serious?" He asked before glancing over at Namine, who was busy packing her stuff up.

"H-hey Namine-chan…" The boy said as he made his way over to Namine with a nervous smile. "Is it true that that Pianist was staying at your familiy's inn?"

Namine looked down before answering. "I'm sorry I can't share information like that."

Seeing that the question was making her uncomfortable the boy quickly backpedaled. "R-right sorry for asking something like that." He quickly said before walking away.

As he walked away Xion walked up to Namine with an annoyed look on her face. "Ugh, how long are we gonna have to wait here?"

"I can't really say." Namine said trying to give her friend a satisfactory answer.

"Ah well, not like I have anywhere to be today." Xion said optimistically.

"Oh that reminds me, did you try that rumor I told you about?" Xion asked.

"Hm?" Namine hmmed confusedly.

"You know, that rumor about rainy nights." Xion clarified.

"Oh, sorry Xion but it's been really busy around the inn lately so I keep forgetting about it." Namine explained.

"It's fine. I was just curious about it since I heard a guy in the other room yell something like "My soulmate is Tifa lockhart, the pianist."

Just then the intercom came on as the same female voice from before began speaking. "Attention all students, there has been an incident inside the school zone. Police have been dispatched around the school zone. Please stay calm and contact your parents or guardians as soon as possible and quickly leave the school grounds. DO NOT disturb the police officers, head directly home. I repeat…" The female repeated the message as the whispers of students picked up again.

"An incident?"

"Wait something actually happened?"

"Come on let's go take a look." One student said excitedly despite the warning.

Sora just sweatdropped at the excitement of the gossipers over an incident that required police involvement.

Getting up to leave Sora was stopped by Xion with Namine in tow.

"Hey Sora." She greeted cheerfully.

"Hey Xion."

"Oh, Sora do you walk home alone usually? If you do why not walk home with us?" Xion offered with a friendly smile.

"Okay sure." Sora said with a nod.

"Oh I almost forgot to introduce you to someone." Xion said turning to Namine. "This is Namine Amagi."

"Hello, it's nice to meet you." Namine greeted politely. "Sorry we had to meet under such _strange _circumstances." Namine said with a teasing glance at Xion.

"Come on why do you have to say it like that?" Xion said rhetorically asked with a sheepish sigh. "You make it sound like I'm some weirdo."

"Heh heh, well if it's any consolation I don't think you're a weirdo. You were just being polite right." Sora said to a sheepish looking Xion.

Upon hearing the encouragement Xion instantly perked up. "Yeah! Thanks Sora, I think we're gonna be good friends." Xion said excitedly.

Neither Xion nor Namine caught the words Sora mumbled under his breath. _"Here's hoping."_

"Hey… Xion." The three turned to see Roxas walking up with sad look on his face.

"Hey Roxas." Xion greeted back before noticing his troubled expression. "What's wrong?" She asked before Roxas shoved a DVD case out in front of him in a deep bow as he stared at the floor. "I'm really sorry!" He said quickly.

"What are you…" Xion trailed off as she took the DVD case which read "Legend of the dragon". Opening the case Xion started gaping as she stared at the case's contents. There in the case lay a single DVD with a single jagged crack cutting through it, showing that the DVD had been broken in half.

"Roxas…" Xion whispered almost demonically as she gave Roxas her best death glare.

Sensing the danger Roxas quickly backpedaled with an apology. "I'm really sorry, I was taking it out of the player but I wasn't paying attention and I accidentally snapped it in half and..."

"Hold it." Xion said as she held up a hand as a sign for him to stop as he trailed off. "I don't care how it happened. I don't care when it happened. The fact is it happened, and you are going to make up for it. I won't tell you when, and I won't tell you how, but one way or another you will pay me back for this. Got it?"

"Yes, ma'am." Roxas replied dejectedly.

Upon seeing Roxas' dejected expression Xion felt her face soften a bit before speaking up again. "Look, I know you didn't mean to break it. And while I'm still mad at you as long as you agree to do me a favor at some point down the line then I'll forgive you." She proposed with a gentle smile on her face.

Upon hearing the proposal Roxas instantly brightened up before giving a hard nod. "Sure. And I promise I'll make this up to you somehow."

"Great, now since I'm still mad at you we'll be leaving now. Let's go you guys." She said as she made her way out the door.

"See you later Roxas." Namine said as she followed after Xion leaving Sora alone with Roxas.

"You gonna be okay after that?" Sora asked having seen Roxas' dejected look from before.

"I'll be fine. After all I did break her movie and thankfully I don't have to pay her back with an arm and a leg, just a favor." Roxas replied sheepishly.

Sora couldn't help a good-natured chuckle. "That's true."

"So how was your first day at Yasogami highschool?" Roxas asked good-naturedly changing the subject.

"It's been…" Sora paused for a second as he took a thoughtful glance at Xion and Namine who were waiting for him at the door with an irritated look and a friendly look respectively. "Interesting."

Roxas couldn't help but chuckle at Sora's answer. "Yeah they can be a bit… out there."

"Hey come on Sora." Xion exclaimed in annoyance.

"Coming, see you later Roxas." Sora said as he walked over to Xion and Namine as the two walked out of the room with Roxas throwing back a parting of his own.

XXXX

The three teens were cheerfully chatting with each other as they walked out of the front entrance of the school.

As the other two continued talking Sora stopped to get a better look at the school. The school was a modestly sized school with three floors worth of classrooms and facilities.

Noticing that Sora wasn't walking with them anymore Xion and Namine turned to see him staring up at the school.

"What do you think?" Xion asked as she and Namine walked back to where Sora was standing.

"I like it!" Sora answered with a toothy grin causing Xion to give a proud smile in response.

Before he could say anything else Sora saw a young man walking up to them from the gate.

Tilting his head to get a better look at the young man Sora noticed that he was wearing what looked like a High school uniform but with an emblem on the front that Sora didn't recognize. The young man also had a messy mob of blonde hair covered by a beanie with a Kanji on the front of it that Sora also didn't recognize. The most startling feature about the young man was his emerald green eyes that were sunken down into a harsh scowl.

Walking up to the trio the young man promptly ignored Sora and Xion as he stared at Namine, who was feeling more than a little uncomfortable about the young man in front of her.

"Are you Namine Amagi?" The young man asked none-too politely.

"Yes I am, may I help you with something?" Namine replied, wary of the young man as Xion and Sora tensed up behind her.

"Come with me." The young man demanded rudely.

"What, no!" Namine exclaimed indignantly.

"What'd you say?" The young man asked quietly fuming.

"I said NO!" Namine repeated loudly.

"Why you little…" The young man started before being shoved back an enraged Xion.

"Hey! She said no, so back off punk." Xion exclaimed as she started bopping up and down on the balls of her feet in preparation for a fight.

"You're gonna pay for that bitch." The young man threatened.

"Hey! Leave them alone." Sora exclaimed as he rushed out in front of Xion and Namine.

Sora and the young man stared each other down, neither side letting up or dropping into fighting stances.

"You really wanna do this, Porcupine?" The young man mocked.

"I will if you don't back off." Sora countered intensely as the two continued to stare each other down.

"Hey, what's going on here?!" A gruff voice exclaimed.

Turning towards the source of the voice everyone saw Cid walking towards them, a lit cigarette in his mouth.

"Mr. Highwind?" Namine exclaimed.

Cid walked up to the young man with an intense look on his face. The young man put on a brave face but Sora noticed a small beat of sweat roll down his neck as he stared down the teacher.

"There any particular reason why you're messing with my students?" Cid asked the young man who remained silent at the accusation.

Annoyed at the young man's silence Cid continued speaking. "Not gonna talk eh? Alright, then let me tell you what you're gonna do now. You are gonna turn around and walk away and never mess with my students again."

"And if I refuse?" The young man challenged as Cid took a drag of his cigarette.

In response Cid blew a puff of smoke into the young man's causing him flail for a moment. "If you refuse than I beat the shit out of you and make you leave, your choice punk." Cid finished with finality.

The young man gritted his teeth for a moment before turning and storming off in a huff.

The trio collectively let out sighs of relief they weren't aware they were holding in.

"Thanks Mr. Highwind." Xion thanked gratefully as the Sora and Namine nodded in agreement.

"Don't mention it. And just call me Cid, never been good with formalities." Cid said as he took another drag of his cigarette. "Anyway, you kids gonna be okay?" He asked.

"Yes sir, we're fine now." Namine answered for the trio.

"Alright you kids be careful on your way home got it." Cid warned as he walked back towards the school.

"Thanks again, Cid!"Xion called back as they watched him walk away.

Once Cid was out of earshot Xion turned back to Sora and Namine. "Who woulda thought that Cid would be the one to help us out?" She said incredulous.

"I certainly wasn't expecting it." Namine added.

"Makes me feel kind of bad for him since everyone was pretty rude to him today." Sora added as he scratched his head in slight irritation.

"Xion! Namine! Sora!" A young-sounding voice called out to them.

Turning towards the sound of the voice they saw Roxas running up with his skateboard in hand.

"Are you three alright? I saw what happened from the classroom." Roxas explained as he caught up to them.

"Don't worry we're fine." Xion said calmly.

"By the way Namine…" She started turning to Namine. "Did you know that guy?" She asked.

Namine shook her head in response. "No I've never seen him before in my life, I'm sure I would have remembered someone that unpleasant if I had met them before." She answered with a scowl.

"Could he have been trying the Amagi challenge?" Roxas offered.

"Oh, I didn't think of that." Xion said.

Sora got a confused look at the unfamiliar term. "What's the Amagi challenge?" Not noticing the luminescent blush that appeared on Namine's face.

Noticing Namine's blush Roxas decided to explain the term for her. "Well, see a lot of the guys in the school think Namine fits their ideal girlfriend, she's attractive, she's number one in her class academically, and she's really nice, so many of them have tried to ask her out but…" Roxas trailed off after noticing Namine's blush increase about ten-fold.

Picking up where Roxas left off Xion continued the explanation. "But she turned down every single guy that ever asked her out, so not only was she the ideal girlfriend but she was also hard-to-get, in other words the ideal woman. Thus, the Amagi challenge." Xion concluded with an air of intelligence.

At this point Namine resembled a bright red apple as she was slightly trembling with embarrassment.

Before Sora could say anything Namine sprang into a full on rant.

"It's not what you think I mean yes there's a challenge named after me but that's not what I wanted It just kind of happened and…"

"It's okay, I understand. I know you didn't plan for something like that to happen. Besides I think the entire thing is pretty silly since people shouldn't be heckling you via a dating challenge if you don't want to date anyone." Sora said in a friendly tone.

Namine couldn't hold back an embarrassed blush at the kind words. Behind them Roxas and Xion shared small chuckle at the exchange.

As the two chuckled Xion's eyes suddenly widened as if she just realized something. "Wait, I'm still mad at you." She mumbled as Roxas abruptly stopped chuckling at her words. "Why are you still here? Go on, go." Xion practically yelled as she quickly shoved him towards the road leading away from the school.

"Alright, alright. See ya guys later." Roxas called back as he got on his skateboard and rode away.

Letting out a sigh Xion began walking down the road herself but not before calling back to Sora and Namine. "Come on guys let's go."

"Okay." The two said as they caught up with her before striking up conversation with each other.

XXXX

Sora, Xion, and Namine found themselves walking through one of the residential areas as they continued their way home.

"So you're here because your parents are working overseas?" Xion clarified quizzically.

Sora nodded in confirmation. "Yeah we've been doing this song and dance for the better part of a decade now." He said with a hint of irritation.

"Man, that has to be annoying." Xion added sympathetically.

"Believe me it's more annoying than it sounds." Sora stressed, a tone of bitterness leaking into his voice.

"Oh." Xion muttered quietly before perking up. "Well hey, I know the town isn't much but make yourself at home here." She encouraged.

"Sure, but um…" he paused as he mulled over the question he wanted to ask before continuing. "Sorry if this sounds a bit rude, but what's out here anyway?" He asked curiously.

Xion put her hand under her chin as she mulled the question over in her head. "Well… let's see… there's the bookstore which is small like the rest of the town but it has a pretty good selection, at least that's what Namine told me." She mentioned sheepishly.

"There's a textile shop, a liquor store, oh we have a Shinto shrine." She added cheerfully.

"So there really isn't much out here is there." Sora muttered sheepishly.

Xion suddenly recalled something with a snap of her fingers. "Oh! There's the Amagi inn." She said proudly.

"The what?" Sora asked recognizing Namine's last name.

"It's the inn Namine's family runs, it's the pride of Inaba." Xion explained with a grin.

Namine spoke up at this. "It's nothing special honestly." She explained humbly. "But apparently people seem to think otherwise. I can't really complain I suppose since it keeps business alive." She noted with a small smile.

"Can't argue with that." Sora said in agreement.

"By the way Sora, can I ask you something?" Xion asked.

"Hmm sure." Sora replied.

"Sorry if this sounds rude at all, but why is your hair that… um…" She trailed trying not to sound rude.

Sora looked confused for a second before realizing what her question probably was. "You mean this?" He said as he tugged at one of the spikes of his hair.

"Yeah." She replied quickly relieved that she wouldn't have to vocalize her, admittedly, rude question.

"Would you believe it naturally does this?" Sora answered with sheepish chuckle.

"Are you serious?" Xion asked incredulous.

"Yeah it's been doing this since I was a little kid, though I don't know why. Pretty weird huh." Sora admitted sheepishly.

"I don't think so." Xion replied with a shake of her head. "It gives you a unique flair." She exclaimed cheerfully.

Sora couldn't hold back an embarrassed blush at the exclamation. "Thanks." He mumbled as he poked at his cheek in embarrassment.

"Speaking of unique…" Xion said as she cast a mischievous glance at Namine. "What do you think of Namine so far?" She asked teasingly.

Sora blushed at the question "What kind of question is that?" He sputtered.

"You think she's cute don't you?" she clarified mischievously.

At this point Namine had turned bright red at the question. "X-X-Xion!" she sputtered embarrassingly.

Sora tried to gather his thoughts into a coherent answer. "Well… I mean yeah I think she's cute, but I only just met her so I don't know what that answers." He answered his face still a bright shade of red.

"Hah hah, I knew it." Xion said proudly.

"Xion!" Namine shouted at her friend, who held up her hands in defense while still grinning from ear to ear.

Before either of them could say anything else Xion noticed a crowd gathered further down the street.

"What's going on?" she asked as the trio made their way over to the crowd.

As the three got closer they overheard a pair of housewives gossiping rather loudly on front of what looked like a crime scene with several patrol men blocking the street.

"So that high schooler left early, and as she came down this street…" One of the housewives began.

"Wow who could have imagined THAT hanging from an antenna?" the second housewive said incredulously.

"I wished I had seen that." The first housewive said.

"You just missed it. The police and fire department took it down just a moment ago."

"I still can't believe a dead body showed up around here, it's terrifying." The first housewive said grimly.

The three students gasped at the mention of a dead body.

"A dead body!?" Xion muttered frightfully.

Before he could say anything Sora saw a streak of silver out of the corner of his eye. Turning towards it Sora saw Riku speaking with some of the patrol officers. Feeling someone's gaze on him Riku turned to see Sora and after brief nod good-bye to the patrol men began making his way over.

"Riku!" Sora greeted as his friend made his way over to him.

Xion and Namine turned their to attention to Riku after hearing Sora's greeting.

"Sora what are you doing here?" Riku asked quizzically.

"We were just passing through on our way home." Sora explained.

Xion looked at Riku quizzically before speaking up. "Do you know him Sora?" She asked.

Sora nodded in confirmation. "He's the friend I'm staying with while I'm in town." He explained with a smile.

"My dad and his were business buddies so we played together when we were younger until Sora started town hopping because of his folks. So when he mentioned his parents were making him move again in his last e-mail I offered to let him stay with me for the year since none of his relatives seemed to care." Riku explained.

"Oh I see." Xion said.

"By the way Riku, did something happen here?" Sora asked quizzically.

Riku shook his head in response. "Don't worry about it." Riku said cautiously.

"Excuse me, Dojima-san." A young voice spoke from behind Riku.

Turning to the source of the voice Sora saw a young man, who looked only slightly younger than Riku. The young man wore a blue business suit with a simple red tie. The most distinguishing feature about the young man that Sora noticed was his hair which was a bright shine of silver that fell down the sides of his face framing a pair of emerald green eyes, his hair also seemed to form a bit of a large spike of hair pointing backwards.

Sora couldn't help but think the young man looked a little odd but decided not to dwell on it since he wasn't exactly a paragon of normalcy himself.

"What's up Xehanort?" Riku asked turning to the young man.

"I feel like I'm coming down with something, may I have your permission to leave sir?" Xehanort asked as he held his stomach pathetically.

Riku merely narrowed his eyes at the flimsy excuse to get away from the crime scene. "Not a chance." He deadpanned.

"Damn." Xehanort muttered, dropping the act.

"Now get back over there and look for some intel." Riku ordered pointing to the crime scene.

"Yes sir." Xehanort mumbled unenthusiastically.

Riku let out an agitated sigh as Xehanort walked away back to the crime scene. "Anyway you three should hurry on home, especially you Sora." Riku urged before walking back towards the crime scene himself.

As the three watched Riku walk away Xion let a heavy sigh at things she just heard. "Man, who would have thought that a dead body would be found on the first day of school?"

"And why was it hanging from an antenna?" Namine added quizzically.

"I don't even wanna know." Xion mumbled.

"Anyway, our houses are this way so we'll see you tomorrow Sora." She threw back as she and Namine began walking down a different street.

"See you tomorrow." Sora called back as he waved good-bye to them.

Once they were out of sight Sora began mulling over what he had just heard.

"_A dead body hanging from an antenna? Who would do such a thing? And how? Why?"_ He thought for a moment before shaking his head. _"It doesn't matter right now. At any case I should start heading home too."_

And with that thought Sora continued his way back to Riku's house.

XXXX

**(Evening)**

As evening rolled around Sora found himself sitting at the table with Yuna as the two of them watched TV.

Yuna quietly looked around the room for a moment before letting out a sad sigh. "I wonder if Riku is going to be late again tonight?" She muttered sadly.

Sora looked over at Yuna sympathetically but before he could say anything the evening news came on.

"Our top story this evening concerns a bizarre case in a quiet suburb. Around noon today, a woman was found dead near the Samegawa river in Inaba." As the anchorman talked an image of the Yasogami school zone was being shown on-screen.

"_Could this be the incident from earlier?"_ Sora thought to himself.

"The deceased has been identified as Ms. Tifa Lockhart, a 28-year-old pianist from Tokyo." The anchorman continued as an image of Ms. Lockhart appeared on-screen.

"The initial results of the Inaba Police department have revealed…"

Yuna gasped as she heard the anchorman mention the Inaba police department. "T-that's where Riku works!" She exclaimed before suddenly getting a sad look on her face.

"He'll be fine, don't worry." Sora encouraged gently, sensing her worry.

"I know, it's his job after all." She replied as the anchorman continued.

"The body was found hanging from a large television antenna atop a local resident's roof. The authorities are uncertain as to why the body was in such a state. With the cause of death also uncertain, police continued to investigate whether the death is an accident or a homicide. A thick fog common to the area has slowed their progress, and plans to fully canvass the area are delayed until tomorrow." The anchorman concluded as the broadcast ended.

"Wasn't that the same woman from yesterday?" Yuna asked recalling the news story from yesterday.

"Yeah." Sora answered grimly.

"But Riku said everything would turn out alright for her and Mr. Ansem. Didn't he?" Yuna said sadly.

Sora remained silent not knowing what to say to her.

At that moment the Junes commercial came on again.

"At Junes everyday is customer appreciation day. Come see for yourself and get in touch with our products."

"_Everyday's great at your Junes."_ The commercial's jingle played happily.

Yuna remained silent even as the jingle played, a sad look still on her face as she thought of Ms. Lockhart.

Sora thought for a moment of how he could cheer her up. A small light bulb went off in his head as he thought of something.

"Everyday's great at your Junes." Sora began singing.

Yuna looked up at Sora's singing and stared for a second before breaking out in a fit of giggles.

"Were you trying to sing Mr. Sora?" She asked in-between giggles.

"How was it?" Sora asked sheepishly, glad that he had managed to get her mind off of the news story.

"It could use a little work." She teased.

"Everybody's a critic." He teased back in a tone that showed he wasn't serious.

Yuna broke out in another fit of giggles at his answer.

The atmosphere remained pleasant for the rest of the evening after that. After dinner the two decided to turn in for the night.

**A/N: And that was the first chapter of Persona 4 bonds of the heart.**

**Again thank you everyone who gave this story a try and please leave a review of what you liked or didn't like, favorite, follow, all that good stuff.**

**So with that I will see you all next time.**

**See ya.**

**GamCguru**

**Next time: The midnight channel**


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